1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and a device for dynamic measurement of the radial deformation of a rolling bearing ring.
2. Description of Related Art
For diagnosis of the state of rolling bearing rings and for detecting load states and stresses of the rolling bearing, it is helpful to dynamically detect the deformation of the rolling bearing.
UK Patent Application GB 2 113 845 A discloses a rolling bearing in which there are force sensors (which can be fiber optic sensors) on the outer peripheral surface and on the face sides of the stationary outer ring. Here, both radially acting and also axially acting forces are detected, the corresponding expansion of the sensor being detected as a function of time. The force sensors are provided at a few special positions distributed in the peripheral direction. Thus, the corresponding deformation of the bearing ring can only be determined at these discrete sites.
A similar system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,920,801, in which an element called a sensor ring surrounds the outer bearing ring of the rolling bearing and has recesses in which three force sensors (which can be optical sensors) are distributed in the peripheral direction, so that both axial and radial forces acting on the sensor can be detected.
European Patent Application EP 1 939 598 A1 shows a rolling bearing in which there are several force sensors distributed in the peripheral direction on the outside ring.
International Patent Application Publication WO 2005/111537 A1 shows a fiber optic sensor which is made as a fiber Bragg grating sensor and which is wound around a body which is attached to a rotating shaft in order to measure its deformation during rotation.